The transfer of a certain volume of liquid from a supply container to a receptacle with the aid of a manually operated syringe is a painstaking and time-consuming operation, especially when a large number of such receptacles have to be filled with different liquids. In many instances the receptacles are simple depressions in a common matrix such as a sheet or plate of resinous material; filling these inseparable receptacles one by one may result in an excessive lengthening of the storage time of some of the liquids, leading to undesirable reactions.